How do you interpret "It's a people business" when figuring out employers? + Will.i.am & Pelumi
Friday musings from a scattered mind.
Hi all-
Cheeky reminder that Lunar New Year is February 10, 2024, and the very traditional approach is to celebrate it for 15 days.
I’ll celebrate it for 15 seconds, thank you very much.
Enjoy today’s thoughts!
Cheers,
Allen
In cased I missed it:
I survived Davos 2024 and the food-driven learnings of Davos
Here’s what I wrote 365 days ago in 2023.
What I’m Up To:
We’re skipping this section this week. This know that January was a very long year.
What I reflected On
TL;DR: When people say “it’s a people business”, what they are describing is their emotional connection, and that should given you fuel for your curiosity to find out why.
How do you interpret "It's a people business" when figuring out employers?
I remember the first time I went to a job fair as a near-broke and witless prospect. I remember sitting on speaking engagements presented by professionals who happen to be alumni of my alma-mater. As a young eager college student, I would often hear professionals talk about what makes the company they are employed at “Great” and what get’s them to stay, and why they chose that firm.
“It’s a people business.”
The people you work with, the culture, the atmosphere - it’s inspiring! More often then not, this is what is articulated. A curious or persistent mind may probe on “what do you mean by it’s a people business” and you’ll get derivative responses along the lines of opportunities, mentorship, or happy hour. Depending on their rank, it’ll get more elaborate or unrelatable.
But I never understood the phrase “it’s a people business”.
I think it comes from my own expectation of “well I sure hope the people are decent because that’s the minimum bar you need to clear for me to be employed here.” But the truth is, I didn’t understand the significance of the relationships can be made and was very narrowed minded. I didn’t grow up understanding the range and depth of relationships.
I didn’t know what relationships are.
Relationships are how two things are connected. It also can describe how it will be connected (intent for future longevity), or how it was connected (description of its past history). Semantics aside, when it comes to “It’s the people” or “it’s a people” business, what they are conveying is:
I feel emotionally connected.
And there’s something beautiful about that. What’s missing here is the context that substantiates the depth of the statement. Connected with who?
Who is important. Ask the individual what connection in the workplace is providing them a lot of daily or weekly confidence. Ask the individual examples of relationships with their peers, their leaders, their direct reports, even vendors or clients - and see what kind of color you get from them. The level of seniority & their level of business ownership will influence how they answer, which in turn should influence how you want to approach them to understand the statement “it’s a people” business.
Here are some examples you can ask in private, or publicly if it’s a more open forum:
You mentioned that what keeps you here “is the people”. Can you elaborate more on what do you mean by this statement? Are you referring to your immediate peer group connections or clients? Or are you referring to how your relationships to people mature over time?
You mentioned that you are staying at the company because “of the people”. Talk to me about some of your leaders that you report to - what are they doing to keep you around?
You mentioned “it’s a people” business, and gave some color to it. If you had to choose one set of relationships you’d like to evolve in the short-term, which ones would it be and why?”
The answers you’ll receive can be enlightening because it’s not about who they are describing, it’s about how that individual is describing their own relationship to the connections around them. What do I mean by that?
Psychology time.
I’m a huge fan of Adlerian psychology which to give you the quick summary of that: “All problems are problems of interpersonal relationships”. Using this viewpoint, try to imagine and determine what is the relationship between the individual and X topic, or person, and what is the context that lead to that relationship? Relationships don’t have to be between people - it can be between any thing.
How a person describes their relationship to “a thing” is very telling of how they are seeing the world, because the curious mind should ask “why” and figure out “what makes the other “tic”.
What angle are they describing their position? Here are some thematic examples - and there are a few more.
Mentorship: “Oh they took me in and taught me everything!”
Respect: “I partner with them often and it’s been a bumpy but rewarding road”
Avoidance: “I go to this set of relationships, because my clients/bad relationships can be challenging”
Reliability: “I can always lean on my peers to out team a problem.”
It’s important to note that the way they are articulating their relationships is not an indicator of a redflag or yellow flag. It’s simply how that individual is choosing to express themselves at that time and you may use what you learn to fuel your curiosity for the next things you want to ask about company culture.
When someone says “it’s a people business” or “it’s the people” - don’t take it at surface value. Dig in to it and find as much color as you can get, and see how they are describing their relationships to various people.
One more thing.
What I didn’t articulate above is how an individual can leverage relationships and the expectations of bringing in outside relationships to improve a business. That is another post entirely.
What Else is On My Mind?
Thank you Pelumi!
Thank You Pelumi!
Unravelling my thoughts around Davos - a very fun thought always comes to mind - the one with Will.i.am.
Why is it memorable?
I’m extremely bad at celebrity and iconic person recognition to the point where I will probably miss it. But I will actively comment on people’s wardrobe attire if it’s distinctly different.
Turns out, Will.i.am has (unexpectedly) a custom design sweater going beyond the logos, but also the stitching and fit. He’s also a fan of Nigerian/African made clothing because it’s “cheaper and better”.
Here’s a memorable video of Will.i.am looking at the inside of my suit and figuring out it’s “Nigerian Made” and getting excited over that. (thanks Mark for capture).
A bit of context on the suit.
It was made by Pelumi Oke, a relationship that started while we were both at EY. We have long since departed the “EY” homeland, and the relationship has never ended. Pelumi mentioned I needed suits, so I said yes.
I don’t think he realized I would torture them in 0 degrees weather, nor did he realize the stories I’d come back after wearing them. Or me wearing winter boots and thick wool under layers.
For anyone looking for a suit - Pelumi started his own suit tailoring business based on his own needs and realizing that the market wasn’t catering to his build. So he built a company that allows him to build custom handcrafted suits.
If you’re in Dallas, you can show up in-person and if you’re remote, you’ll get a prototype suit + consultation time to nail the look. If you’re interested, I can refer you to him.